Chapter 27
The room felt incredibly tense. The blurry old photo sat on the desk between them, threatening to change everything.
Enzo Rossi could barely breathe. His eyes rushed back and forth from the faded picture of the young girl to the silver locket shaking in his hand.
Suddenly, the whole truth hit him all at once, shattering everything he thought he knew.
That girl with the stubborn, unforgettable eyes. The woman who had saved his and Vanessa's lives. And now, she was barely holding on, surrounded by plastic tubes and hospital glass.
?Anna.
?"No," Enzo whispered, his voice catching in his throat. "No, you're lying. You twisted old bastard, you're lying."
?Lorenzo Valenti tilted his head back, letting out a wet, rattling laugh.
"Am I? Look at her eyes, Enzo! That is your aunt's face staring right back at you! You spent ten years searching the world and throwing away millions of dollars to find her. Meanwhile, she was sitting right here next to Aiden Thorne. And you sent a hitman to kill her."
Deep underground in the Thorne basement cell, the air was damp. Vanessa tried to stay calm, but she just couldn't. She had seen the look in Aiden's eyes, that man was on a mission and would kill anyone who got in his way.
?"Let me out!" she screamed, her voice echoing loudly off the walls. "You idiots! If Aiden kills my brother, he's killing the wrong man! Lorenzo set this up!"
?The two big, heavily armed guards stood completely still. They didn't blink or answer.
?Vanessa sank back into the chair, breathing in short, panicked gasps. She knew her brother. Enzo was too proud to run away, even with a monster like Aiden Thorne hunting him down.
"Enzo, please," she whispered into the dark as a tear fell. "Please don't be there when he arrives."
Back in the Valenti office, the tension was thick.
Enzo was blinded by rage and deep guilt.
He pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it right at Lorenzo's forehead, breathing heavily.
He was the one who had sent the hitman to target the Thorne family.
Even though he was tricked, he had still attacked his own blood.
For the first time in his life, Enzo was truly terrified. What if she never accepted him as family? What if she couldn't pull through and died?
?"You're going to die for this, Lorenzo," Enzo growled, tightening his finger on the trigger. "Right here. Right now."
?"Go ahead, shoot me!" Lorenzo spat back, his eyes wild with twisted joy. "Kill a dying man in a wheelchair! It won't change what you did. It won't save your cousin. And it definitely won't stop the Aiden from-"
Lorenzo was cut off instantly.
?The heavy wood doors opened. The mansion's security alarms stayed completely silent as Aiden Thorne stepped into the room.
?He didn't look human. His suit jacket was gone, and his white sleeves were rolled up, stained with a horrifying mix of Anna's dried blood and fresh blood from the guards he had killed on his way upstairs. He held a silenced gun loosely at his side. His eyes were completely blank and hollow.
?Enzo quickly turned his gun toward the door, but before he could even think, Aiden moved like a blur.
?Crack.
?Aiden didn't even shoot. He closed the gap instantly and kicked Enzo's wrist hard. The sound of breaking bone filled the room as Enzo's gun flew across the floor into the dark. Enzo groaned, holding his broken wrist and stumbling back against the wooden desk.
?Aiden didn't hit him again. He just stood there, slowly looking from Enzo to the old man in the wheelchair.
"How did you get in without triggering any alarms?" Lorenzo asked, his voice slightly shaking.
?"I've learned a thing or two from my wife," Aiden answered coldly. "And I come bearing gifts."
?He tossed the first set of photos onto the desk in front of Lorenzo, pictures of his dead sons. Then, he turned to Enzo and flashed a final photo on his screen, a terrified Vanessa locked tight in the Thorne basement.
"No, no, no," Lorenzo mumbled to himself, his eyes glued to the photos of his dead children.
?Aiden turned his cold gaze back to Enzo. "Vanessa's life is tied to my wife's. If Anna dies, so does your sister."
"Aiden," Enzo gasped, pressing his broken wrist against his chest as sweat rolled down his forehead. "Listen to me... you don't get it. The shooter, Marco... I was set up."
?Aiden didn't say a word. He just raised his silenced gun and aimed it right at Enzo's chest. The room went dead silent, except for the rain hitting the window.
?"Look at the desk, Thorne!" Lorenzo shouted from his wheelchair, laughing like a madman, desperate to watch everything explode. "Look at your precious Anna! Look at who she really is!" He looked completely insane. He didn't care what happened to him anymore, he had absolutely nothing left to lose.
?Aiden's eyes stayed frozen on Enzo's face.
?"She's my blood, Aiden" Enzo said, stepping straight into the line of fire.
He looked completely desperate, and tears of pain and panic finally broke through his tough act.
"Anna is a Rossi, she's my cousin. The locket, the photo on the desk... she's the family I've been searching for my whole life"
"She's the true heir to the Rossi syndicate! When Enzo found out, he sent someone to silence her!" Lorenzo said, laughing maliciously.
?Aiden raised an eyebrow at Enzo, who shook his head no while staring at Lorenzo like he wanted to rip his head off.
?"He wasn't looking for her to save her, no!" Lorenzo added, throwing more fuel on the fire. "He wanted to eliminate the threat to his throne!"
?Aiden's finger stayed steady on the trigger. For a split second, the blank look in his eyes flickered as he processed the news. He looked down at the blurry photo on the desk, then back at Enzo's broken, desperate face.
Aiden stared at the photo again. It was his Anna, young and small.
She had no one to protect her back then, so she had become a lethal weapon to protect herself.
He had found her, loved her, and yet he had still failed to protect her.
Now, he just wanted to eliminate every single threat before she woke up.
What if she never wakes up? The thought hit him, and he almost lost his composure.
?Before anyone could say another word, the secure phone in Aiden's pocket pinged. The bright screen flashed a message from the hospital wing.
?Aiden looked down at the screen. The message from Marcus was only three words long, but it changed everything for the entire city.
?He froze, his jaw tightening as he read the text. He slowly looked up at Enzo and then at Lorenzo, the heavy pressure of his next decision hanging over the room like a blade.